The present invention relates to an interface module for connecting user terminals of a collision detection local area network to a switching network having a different access mode.
When it is desired to connect a user terminal of a collision detection local area network having an IEEE 802.3 standard access interface, for example, to a switching network having different access protocols, the simplest approach that minimizes modifications of the terminals would be to construct an interface module with transmit and receive buffers which are connected to a desired switching network, an access controller connected to the transmit and receive buffers, and a serial interface adapter connected thereto. A pair of transceivers are connected in a coaxial cable bus. One of the transceivers is connected to the user terminal and the other transceiver to the serial interface adapter.
However, such a solution would result in a bulky and expensive interface module.